Localiza posted a full-year 2016 net profit of 409.3 million reais, up 1.7 percent on 2015, the company said in a statement on its website.

The company said the fourth-quarter fall in profit was partly due to a net rise in financial expenses resulting from increased debt from a bigger fleet and an increase in booked depreciation compared with the final quarter of 2015.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the fourth quarter rose 18.8 percent to 270.9 million reais. For the full year, Localiza posted EBITDA of 1.02 billion reais, an increase of 8.6 percent on 2015.